Membership has been open since December but with the most active since March 1, the beginning of our Club year. Mid-way thru March and we have 160 members, 95 opting for the Single memberships and 65 going the Family memberships route.

Our member Demographic breakdown as of Tuesday, 03/13/18 is:

96 Men (62.3%) and 58 Women (37.7%)

148 are 40+ (93.1%)

7 are are 25-40 (4.4%)

4 are under 25 (2.5%)

The Heat Map below demonstrates where our members live. A Heat Map shows the highest concentration of members in Red and then with a gradation of colors to Orange to Yellow and finally to Green for the the lesser concentration of members. It looks like most live in areas around Wilmington to Newark and Middletown, with the membership cloud extending south to and below Dover, north toward Philly and west to and beyond Elkton as far as the Susquehanna River. This is an interesting way to visualize where our members are located.

The WCBC Annual Banquet and Business Meeting was held Saturday, February 24th. It was a well-attended meeting that featured a presentation by Laura Wilburn of the Urban Bike Project.

The event, held at a new venue this year got off to a start at 5:30 with hors d’horves, drinks, and conversation as everyone arrived. There was a montage of Club photographs being projected onto the wall as the crowd filtered in and gathered before the food was served at 6:30. Emily Ciancio, Social Chair pulled together a lot of great food and beverage this year (thanks go out to Emily!). The Club provided the entrees of Penne pasta, baked ziti, meatballs, chicken tenders and roast beef au jus coupled with a chopped antipasto salad. As has been tradition, members brought other salads and pre-dinner snacks so no one went home hungry. The Club also provided beer, wine, soda and bottled water for those in attendance. The Club left the desserts to the members and boy did they come through with cake and cookies to end the night with some sweets.

Awards and Recognition

Service Awards were presented to eight members this year who provided noteworthy service to the Club over the past year. The award recipients were…

Carol Bassett

Mike Bassett

Jim Broscious

Bill Ebbott

Danny Fisher

Charlie Johnston

Gail Robillard

Kevin Tumey

Distinguished Service Awards were presented to three members who have contributed to the ongoing success of the Club over the past year in a significant way. The Annual Honorees were…

Joe Bockrath

Mike Kealey

Dianne Leipold

Charlie Johnston was also honored with the Ray Villec Award of Perseverance presented by Wally Hertler. For those that have attended prior Annual Banquets you know the premise for Wally’s awards and all were entertained during his presentation. (Unfortunately Charlie couldn’t make the meeting, but his awards will be passed onto him)

Executive Committee, Donations and the Speaker

A slate of officers for the Club’s Executive Committee was presented. The proposed Executive Committee members were each introduced and stood to be recognized. After the introductions the members in attendance voted in the Executive Committee as presented. See a prior posting on the website for more information about the Executive Committee.

It was noted that our four events were very successful this past year, in part because of the favorable weather. Since we were successful we were able to make monetary donations to cycling related non-profits, this year donating about $14,000 to fifteen organizations and causes. For those that supported our events, the organizations and causes thank you!

Laura Wilburn, Executive Director for the Urban Bike Project, shared a lot of great information about the UBP. She shared some of the history of the organization, its goals and objectives, some of its success stories with young cyclists and the organizations vision for the future. Briefly the UBP makes bikes available to those that can benefit from but cannot afford them. If you have any bikes or bike parts that you don’t know what to do with, the UBP does so consider donating them to a great cause. And for those that have free time and want to do something that gives back to the cycling community, consider volunteering some time to the UBP. It’s a good way to fill that gap between the last fall ride and the first spring ride. Check out their website (http://www.urbanbikeproject.com/) for more information or reach out to Laura at wilburn.laura@gmail.com.

More awards and a Special Announcement

Ride Leader awards were presented with a list of the top ten ride leaders (by ride count) and those receiving awards for leading a minimum of eight rides. Thirty-seven of our Ride Leaders received awards this year.

Debbie Huff received awards for her participation in the Historical Markers contest. Debbie visited 60 markers between the beginning of April and July, 43 in New Castle County and 17 in Kent County. She received two gift cards to local bike shops for visiting the most Markers in the two counties. The Club plans to have more contests in the coming year, so stay tuned.

The Trek store (former Bike Line) on Concord Pike is offering to put on a WCBC VIP Night. The store will be closed to the public and open only to Club members. There will be special discounts on everything in the store, including bikes. There will be food, beverages and door prizes. Look for postings on the website, Listserve and social media with more details about the special night in April.

The meeting came to a close around 9:00 with thanks going out to Emily and her crew of volunteers for putting on such a nice event, the Executive Committee for another successful year, the Ride Leaders and Event Volunteers, and for all of our members for making this a friendly Club to be involved with.

I hope to see more members at next year’s event. Those that attended had a good time and were planning to return in a year.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone out and about in the coming months.

JW Haupt
WCBC President

]]>Message From the President – New Executive Committee!!http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/message-from-the-president-new-executive-committee/
Thu, 01 Mar 2018 17:43:28 +0000http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/?p=4740WCBC has a new Executive Committee in place as of today, March 1st.

This past Saturday evening was the WCBC Annual Dinner and Business Meeting. During the business meeting portion of the gathering, as has been done in the past, a slate of officers (Executive Committee) was presented to the membership in attendance.

There are thirteen members that sit on the Executive Committee taking on duties and responsibilities that are critical to the success of the Club. Of the thirteen officers, seven are new to the positions, while the other six remained from the prior term. Officers take on a minimum term of two years, with the option to be considered for an additional term each year.

Prior to the vote, one by one the seven new members were introduced and stood to be recognized. At the end a motion was made to accept the slate of officers as presented, that motion was seconded and when put to a vote. All were in favor of the slate of officers presented and the thirteen proposed were elected into office.

The image below provides you with the 2017 and 2018 Executive Committee.

I would like to thank those that have served and that just stepped down from their roles – Joe Bockrath, Mike Kealey, Jaymi Cook, Dianne Leipold, Kevin Tumey and Charlie Johnston. Without your help over the past year, the Club would not have been as successful as it was.

I would also like to congratulate the new members stepping into the vacated positions – Keith Hoke, Dan Durishan, Carol Bassett, Barb Gallagher, Glenn Nichols, Rob Highley and Emily Ciancio. With your help I hope that this year will be just as successful, if not more than last!

If you happen to meet up with any of the past officers please thank them for their services to the Club; as for the newly elected officers, I hope that you will thank them too and give them your support in the coming year.

I’m excited about what the coming year has in store for the Club!

JW Haupt
WCBC President

]]>Message From the President – Membership Made Easy!http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/message-from-the-president-membership-made-easy/
Mon, 26 Feb 2018 23:21:15 +0000http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/?p=4729We are a few days away from the official start to the Club’s 2018 year. Each year our Club year ends the last day of February and begins the first day of March.

The significance of March 1st to the members of the Club is that March 1st brings an end to current membership year and is the beginning of your next membership year. To remain a member in good standing please follow the instructions below and enroll as a WCBC member at your earliest convenience. Unless you registered in BikeReg.com between this past December 1 (2017) and now your membership will expire Wednesday night at midnight. If in doubt reach out to the Club’s Membership Chair, Dwight Siers at Membership@whiteclaybicycleclub.org.

To join the WCBC, go to BikeReg.com (be selecting this link) and type WCBC in the search box, then select “Search” to the lower right of the search window.

All WCBC events will show up as a result of the search with WCBC 2018 Membership being what you want for 2018. Select the blue text (WCBC 2018 Membership) and you will be taken to the Membership “event” page.

From the Membership event page you have two options – Single Membership and Family Membership. Check the box to the left of the appropriate option and complete the membership process, which will include providing a credit card for payment.

Note: You can join with or without setting up a BikeReg account. If you plan to participate in any of the WCBC events (Icicle, Doublecross, Shorefire or Savage) or renew your Membership in 2019, you may want to create a BikeReg account to streamline the event registration process in the future. Once you have a BikeReg account a lot of the information required for future events on BikeReg will auto-fill from your BikeReg account.

If joining as a Family Membership, you will be prompted for the name(s) of your family members and they must be listed in order to be considered under the Family Membership.

It’s that simple and painless and made even more painless by the price reduction of $5 over the prior years’ membership fees.

]]>Message From the President – Support Your LBShttp://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/message-from-the-president-support-your-lbs/
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 20:48:36 +0000http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/?p=4669I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write about this week. We are too far off to begin to ramp up for the riding season. The Icicle is a month and a half away. The Annual Banquet two and a half weeks. During last night’s monthly Club meeting it came to me.

We had a discussion about a recent closing. Wooden Wheels closed their Concord Pike location a few months ago and then within the past few weeks suddenly closed their Newark store. I don’t know the whole story and if I did wouldn’t post it here, but it got me thinking about losing an established part of the cycling community. Wooden Wheels had been around for more than 40 years, providing sales and service to cycling enthusiasts – and now that entity is gone.

I assume the economy probably had something to do with the closing. How online sales are affecting the brick and mortar stores. How the convenience of online shopping, free shipping and reduced prices can be very enticing, but we need to also consider the consequences.

The loss of local bike shops not only hurts the local economy, but it hurts us as cyclists. Yes, you may be able to save some money by buying that part or that apparel online, but can you test ride that bike before buying it? Can you try on those shoes before handing over your money for them? Can you place an order at 3:30 on a Saturday, have what you need in hand at 3:45 so you make the 8:00 am ride Sunday morning? Can you go to your online store with your bike making a funny noise “when I do this”, and have the mechanic tighten a bolt and send you on your way 15 minutes later? I don’t think you can, matter of fact I know you can’t.

What you can do is walk into your local bike shop with a bike that needs an adjustment and roll out ready to hit the road or trails. You can walk into the local bike shop and walk out with a new spoke and a chain whip to fix your rear wheel. You can test ride that nice new shiny bike and try on those new clipless shoes before you put down all that money knowing that if you were to have a problem with the fit, you could go back to the local bike shop and they would make it right for you. And let’s not forget about that relation you’ve developed with that one mechanic that always fixes your bike just right or the store manager who goes out of his/her way to acknowledge you each time you walk into the store. You don’t get that from your web browser.

We, as s community of cyclists, have to remember that the community is not only made up of cyclists, but those that support us. That without their support it may be difficult for us to do what we like to do. Local bike shops provide that support through sales and services and we need to support them in kind.

Keep that in mind the next time you are online line and considering making that $100 purchase, saving $15 or $20. Consider whether you can spare that $20 to help to support those that are only there to support us. It’s a two way street, unless we support them, they will not be there to support us.

I came across some information about “Wooden Wheels” today that you might find of interest – select this link

Middle Aged Man In Lycra

Did the thought of that make you smile? Well there is a movie out with that title and it is showing at the Peoples Plaza Regal Cinema in Glasgow, DE.

From the write-up, this movie is a look at middle-aged men and their love of their bikes and cycling. The summary from the website listing…

Middle Aged Men In Lycra! At last, the love that can finally be shared — that of man for bike. We’ve shaved our legs and we’re here to stay! Deal with us, as we sweep down hills on our bikes, stopping for nothing (except maybe a macchiato). You might be queer in New York, you might be Christian in the midwest, you might be an Adelaide Fat Boy, you might be a lawyer or a cancer survivor, you might be hauling your middle-aged belly up the Col de Tourmalet or just popping down to the shops, you might be on a top-line Trek or a heap of junk, you might be wondering how you’re going to explain all of this to your missus, but you still thrill to the moving meditation of the bike.

This movie is being promoted by Demand Film. The film is being shown one day nationwide, but the theater may cancel the showing is there is not enough interest. There are a minimum number of tickets that must be reserved by Monday, February 12th to avoid cancellation. If you reserve a ticket, your credit card will not be charged unless the event threshold is met. As of Friday, January 26th there are 17 days to reserve another 45 tickets, otherwise the showing will be canceled.

]]>Message From the President – BSCPA Bike Routeshttp://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/message-from-the-president-bscpa-bike-routes/
Thu, 25 Jan 2018 16:50:48 +0000http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/?p=4653I know that this is not in our backyard, but for those looking for bike routes throughout Central Pennsylvania, the regional advocacy group Bicycle South Central PA (BSCPA) has some routes to offer. Please see the information below that they provided the beginning of January, 2018. Any feedback, suggestions or comments can be shared with Marilyn Chastek per the contact information below.

JW HauptWCBC President

Bicycle South Central PA Posts Regional Bike Routes and Biking Resources for Public Use

BSCPA, a regional advocacy group, has been working with experienced local cyclists to create a collection of bike routes that can be used by bike riders who want to ride from community to community throughout Central PA. These routes were created on Ride With GPS so directions are available in GPS format as well as cue sheets.

Destinations primarily include cities and towns in Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York Counties. This currently includes the communities of Gettysburg, Hershey, Lancaster, Hanover, Carlisle, Columbia, Lebanon, Harrisburg, Marysville, Chambersburg, York and others. Most routes are on paved roadways, but some offer off-road trail options. New routes will continue to be added.

The BSCPA website also has information about the PA Bike Routes, off-road trails, mountain biking, local loop routes within a specific area and more.

It is that time of year when Club Membership needs to be renewed. Before doing so I wanted to clue you in on a few changes that are being made this year.

First – we are moving away from Active.com for our online membership registration and going with BikeReg.com. We were receiving complaints over the years from people when they accessed Active.com to register as members as well as register for our major events. We looked into our options and are in agreement that BikeReg.com will be better suited for our needs and provide us with flexibility to implement new options. When accessing BikeReg.com search WCBC for everything Club-related.

Membership will continue to be from Match 1 thru February 28, and as of December 1 membership registration opened for new and renewing members. Those registering after December 1 will be members from December 1, 2017 thru February 28, 2019.

Second – you will be assigned a WCBC Member Identification. In the past local bike shops offered discounts to Club members, with the proof of membership being the mailing label on the Tailwind which showed your membership expiration date. Since we no longer mail out a newsletter, we needed a way to identify members of the Club and BikeReg.com provides us with that feature.

Third – we are exploring the possibility of offering discounts for the four major event (Icicle, Doublecross, Shorefire and Savage) to members in good standing. These discount will be offered during the online registration process thru BikeReg.com. Since we still looking into this, it will not be available for all events in 2018. More on this to follow as we work out the logistics with BikeReg.com.

Fourth – we are moving exclusively to online registration for membership beginning this year. We will no longer accept mail-ins with payments of cash or check when joining or renewing membership. Each member must join or renew online to be assigned a member identification and to receive the confirmation email with this information.

]]>Message From the President – Where Does It Go?http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/message-from-the-president-where-does-it-go/
Tue, 26 Dec 2017 15:56:38 +0000http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/?p=4212Where does it go?

All the money that the Club collects? The money for dues collected? The money for event registration fees?

When you join the Club and pay your annual membership or when you participate in the Shorefire and pay the registration fee, what does the Club do with that money?

A portion goes to operating costs such as Club Liability Insurance for Executive Committee members and supplemental medical insurance for members, a portion goes to the cost of operating a website and email addresses, a portion goes to cover the cost of operating the Club events, but the greatest portion goes to annual donations to cycling-related non-profits.

Club InsuranceTo protect the members of the Club’s Executive Committee we have liability insurance. We get this thru a program offered by the League of American Bicyclists. We also have the supplemental medical insurance for members in good standing that may be injured during a Club-lead ride or Club event. As part of the registration fee we also have medical insurance coverage for non-members that participate in our major events (Icicle, Doublecross, Shorefire and Savage). This is why we have the “Member” “Non-Member” check boxes on the registration forms – we pay the insurance company a fee for each non-member participating in the our four major events (please check the appropriate box when registering). To be clear though, non-members are not covered during Club-lead rides, coverage is only on the four major events when they pay a registration fee.

Website CostsAs with any business or organization, an online presence is mandatory. We pay an internet service provider to host our website and to provide email addresses to communicate with whomever may contact us. In addition we also have the email distribution list (Listserve) for which we pay a fee.

Event CostsFor our four fundraising events (Icicle, Doublecross, Shorefire and Savage) we have costs associated with putting on the event. What we pay for fruit, drinks, snacks and event souvenirs are a large part of the cost. We also pay for use of some of the facilities, the fire stations and schools that we use for the starting points and rest stops. We also pay our insurance provider a fee per person for all non-members that participate in the events. For events such as the Annual Banquet, Annual Picnic and Volunteer Brunch our costs are limited to the facility use fees and cost of food and drink.

Annual DonationsThe largest portion of the money that is collected each year goes to cycling-related non-profits to fund them. They too have operating costs and initiatives that they are focusing on such as offering cycling helmets to those that cannot afford them or providing special bikes to cyclists with special needs. We fund bicycling advocacy groups that are out there meeting with people and working on things that will benefit us as cyclists, such as designated bike lanes and paved trails, safer streets and commuting routes, public awareness measures to name a few. We support non-profits that support us. In the past three years we have donated more than $36,000 to cycling-related non-profits! In 2014/2015 we donated $8,150, in 2015/2016 we donated $13,900, and in 2016/2017 we donated $14,200. Although who we make donation to each year changes, what follows is a list of those non-profits that we supported the last few years…

Bike Delaware

Delaware Senior Olympics

Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery

Friends of Chester Creek Branch

Land Conservancy-South Chester County

League of American Bicyclists

Love of Christ Church

Meals for Shields

Mike Clark Legacy Foundation

Newark Bike Committee

Newark Bike Project

Preston’s March for Energy

Rails to Trails

Rode to Recovery

Special Olympics Delaware

UD Blue Hen Veterans and Friends Cycling Team

Urban Bike Project

Walkable Bikeable Delaware

The Club funds those non-profits that are important to its members. If you want a non-profit to be considered for funding, you, as a member must submit a request for funding using the linked form (Word Doc or Adobe PDF). It is best to include a letter from the non-profit outlining their request and needs. Funding will not be made to a non-profit without a request being submitted.

Please remember that the Club’s four major events are fundraising events. Profits from the money that is raised during the year is donated to cycling-related non-profits to fund their initiatives. Your registration fees will make a difference in the cycling community, some that may benefit you, some that will benefit those that may not have the means to enjoying the sport that we love without assistance. Our Club gives back to the community, please be a part of that.

]]>Bike Security and Theft Recovery from Trophy Bikes at Philly Bike Expo (2017)http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/bike-security-and-theft-recovery-from-trophy-bikes-at-philly-bike-expo-2017/
Wed, 20 Dec 2017 16:52:52 +0000http://whiteclaybicycleclub.org/?p=4553Yesterday, I visited the Philadelphia Bike Expo. I saw two or three WCBC members there and I found much of it entertaining and interesting. Watching the King Cage exhibitor create a bottle cage in about 45 seconds starting with a straight piece of thin steel rod and bending it by hand around various jigs to create the cage (minus the weld-on piece to attach to the bike bosses) was a big crowd attraction.

A representative from Trophy Bikes in Philadelphia gave an excellent presentation on bike security and theft recovery. I’d like to touch on some of the highlights of his talk.

REGARDING SECURITY: He primarily addressed long term bike security focusing on commuters and others who might park and lock bikes for hours at a time. Quite frankly, most road riders aren’t going to carry eight pounds of u-lock and heavy-duty cable so the actual locking I’ll skip but will mention some comments he made regarding what we should lock onto and what to look for.

Always lock your bike to something

Shake anything you’re locking your bike to.

Thieves have been known to dig out signs to make their removal easy, so they can lift the sign (or even young trees) and take your locked bike.

Shake “permanent” bike racks even if they are cemented into the ground.

Thieves have been known to saw through the rack and cover the cuts with tape, so they can simply kick the rack apart and steal your bike.

Don’t lock to posts where the street sign has been removed. All a thief needs to do is lift your bike up and over. (They will use a 2×4 for leverage if the post is very high.)

I am looking into a new, supposedly very strong and very light weight lock that roadies could carry for short term (grab a drink at WAWA or making a “pit stop”) lock-ups. More to come on that.

REGARDING THEFT RECOVERY: The speaker made some excellent points. It’s difficult to recover stolen property if you can’t prove ownership. He said that he’ll sometimes get a call saying that a person’s bike was stolen, and it was bought on a Thursday in 2012. Sometimes the shop can find records and sometimes they can’t. Sometimes they are too busy to look for a while.

Take a picture of you with the bike AND a picture of the bike’s serial number and keep it in your phone. That way you have immediate information to give police.

Create overt and covert markings on your bike.

Overt markings – Write your initials with a silver sharpie on you tire. Yes, it detracts from your bikes ambiance, but no one sees it when you’re moving. If you don’t want to mark your tires, find some other method to obviously mark your bike that you can live with. Remember that stickers can be easily removed in most cases.

This helps bike shops you’ve notified of the theft to spot your bike should it show up for repair or sale.

Covert markings – Place a dab of paint or nail polish high on the inside of your forks and seat stays. Use the same color as your frame so it will be invisible. The texture will be evidence of your marking.

This gives you evidence should there be a dispute regarding ownership

Make a police report. Include the bike and serial number pictures and the overt and covert clues above. This helps bike shops when calling that they have a stolen bike.

Finally…his words not mine…Police generally make bike theft a low priority so the easier we can make it to identify the bike the better.